A blog for the United States branch of the global Centre for Fortean Zoology

At the beginning of the 21st Century monsters still roam the remote, and sometimes not so remote, corners of our planet. It is our job to search for them. The Centre for Fortean Zoology [CFZ] is - we believe - the largest professional, scientific and full-time organisation in the world dedicated to cryptozoology - the study of unknown animals. Since 1992 the CFZ has carried out an unparalleled programme of research and investigation all over the world. Since 2009 we have been running the increasingly popular CFZ Blog Network, and although there has been an American branch of the CFZ for over ten years now, it is only now that it has a dedicated blog.

Saturday, 31 May 2014

A creature described by William Beebe was thought to have been the result of a mistaken observation. Then it was rediscovered.(This article is in Italian; if you don't speak it, you'll need a translation engine).

Blackbeard the Pirate was the name by which Edward Teach (died 1718) was more generally known. A legend tells how, after his final battle, when his head was cut off, it fell into the water and circled the ship seven times. It was in fact hung from the bowsprit of one of the ships which had overcome him.

Blackbeard made his ships avoid what he termed 'enchanted waters'. He himself claimed to have seen mermaids, which he reckoned to be bad luck. Therefore, he avoided water in which he suspected them of dwelling. The idea that mermaids were better avoided was widespread among sailors at the time.

This creature is said to be one of the more frightening cryptids, but one legend avers that the species attacks only those who desecrate the wilderness, preying on humans, bobcats and coyotes.There have been reports of this creature, also called the California Mountain Devil, since the 19th Century. Its range is said to extend from the south-west USA into Mexico. It is said to be winged with fur, talons and poisonous fangs. A number of them are supposed to have attacked a coachload of settlers in the Sierra Nevada in 1878. 37 of them are said to have been killed, the only survivor being a priest who witnessed the massacre and described the attackers as "winged demons".No sightings of these creatures have been reported since 1928. Zoologists tend to be dismissive of the creature's existence, regarding it as folkloristic in nature.

One of the strangest monsters in cryptozoology must surely be the Nightcrawler, which has appeared in indistinct videos (two of them) taken in the region of Fresno (California). It is very slender and does not appear to have arms. The suggestion that what the videos show is a pair of trousers hanging on a line cannot be ruled out. However, it is said to feature in the folklore of the local Indians.There is, of course, a kind of earthworm called a nightcrawler, used as fish-bait, with which the above creature should not be confused.

If ever you've wondered about the origins of water, the Chumash Indians have an explanation for its presence. It comes, their legends inform us, from frogs. Yes, it is frogs' urine. Think of that next time you quaff a cool glass of water.Actually, the water on earth remains constant. This means that when you drink water, it has already passed through countless animals, including dinosaurs, for the same water has always been here. Now, there's a link with the past you probably didn't know you had.

America once had its own species of lion (Panthera leo atrox) which roved the United States and extended into Mexico. However, received wisdom says it became extinct in Pleistocene times.However, there have been occasional sightings of lions in America and Loren Coleman has suggested that these may not be African lions, but rather a surviving population of the supposedly extinct American species.Indians told the Dutch settlers on Manhattan Island of the existence of cats with manes. Reports of lions came in from New York state and Pennsylvania in the 18th Century. In 1836 a lion was reported in what is now West Virginia. In the 20th Century the following reports surfaced:1917 - two lions, one male, one female (Illinois)1948 - report from Elkhorn Falls (Indiana)1959 - Ohio sighting1960 - sighting in Ontario1971 - sighting in Ohio1977 - sighting in Ohio1978 - report from Florida1984 - Ohio sighting1985 - Texas sighting1992 - Ohio sightingStriped lions have also been reported:California - 1868Mexico - 1940Pennsylvania - 1986It was formerly suggetsed that the American lion was actually a tiger, but this opinion is no longer held. It is harder for lions to keep a low profile than pumas, not alone because of their size, but because of the considerable distances their roar carries.

A possible puma has been seen and photographed in Minnesota. The sighting occurred in Mower County recently. Unfortunately, the photographic image was too blurred for the animal to be identified with certainty.In England a wild beast, variously identified as a big cat or a wolverine, has been reported in Cornwall. A wolverine, the largest member of the weasel family, would be a most unpleasant creature to run into.

1973: Witness Anthony Dorsey reports seeing a Sasquatch with
luminous eyes near Sykesville, Maryland. The sighting follows reports of a UFO
dropping some unknown object into a local reservoir. Other witnesses
subsequently log sightings of an eight-foot-tall hair biped around Sykesville.

Down below you will find an article on the Thunderbird. We thought we would give you some Native American traditions of this bird.

Thunderbird carrying whale

The Sioux believed in a chief Thunderbird called Wakinyan Tanka. He was the Thunderbird of the West. In days agone he lived on Harney Peak in the Black Hills of Dakota. He had a beak, wings and claws, but, as far as I can discover, no other corporeal features. He was the Thunderbird of the West. There were also Thunderbirds of the North, South and East.According to the Shawnee, Thunderbirds fight with the Great Horned Serpent. This creature had managed to obtain some power from the Creator. The Creator wanted it back and snatched off the Serpent's head. The Serpent had to take the head off a deer to replace it.

There is no doubt that the Thunderbird was used among Native Americans to explain the thunder. The question into which the cryptozoologist must look is whether an actual large bird lies behind the legend. It would be not unnatural for tribesmen to ascribe thunder to such a bird, if this were the case.The idea that Thunderbirds could carry off whales probably stemmed from the finding of whale bones on mountain tops. The idea that a bird large enough to actually carry off a whale could exist unnoticed is, of course, ludicrous.As to the question of where the Thunderbird actually lived, the Passamaquody had a legend concerning this. Two Indians wished to discover the origin of thunder. They ventured west and came to two mountains, which clashed into and recoiled from each other continuously. The first Indian managed to rush between them before they clashed together. The second wasn't so lucky. On the far side of the mountains he found the Thunderbirds - an ordinary tribe of Indians who, when they decided to make thunder, donned bird costume and flew through the sky.It is said that some Thunderbirds assumed human form and became the ancestors of certain families. A number of families claiming Thunderbird descent are found on Vancouver island.Turning to the Passamaquody again, this tribe spoke of an enemy of the Thunderbirds called Wochwosen, who hailed from the south. He seems to have been a bird who caused winds. So troublesome did he become that Glooskap, a deity, had to break the wings. However, as complete lack of wind led to stagnant and oppressive air, Glooskap had to partially repair his handiwork.The Cashmawa Indians in distant South America believed in a thunderbird type creature called the xeuxeu.Could belief in the Thunderbird be based on an actual creature? There have been a number of sightings of mysterious Big Birds in North America in modern times. The largest authenticated wingspan of any modern bird is 12', yet these birds' wingspans are sometimes said to exceed this.An Indian called White Bear, who died in 1905, claimed he was carried off by a Thunderbird and brought to its nest, from which he managed to escape. In 1948 a large bird, at first mistaken for an airplane, was sighted at Overlook (Illinois) and later at Alton, in the same state. In the same year one was sighted at St Louis (Missouri). There were a number of sightings in Pennsylvania in 2001 and at San Antonio (Texas) in 2007.However, the most astonishing report involves the carrying off of Marlon Lowe at Lawndale (Illinois) in 1971. True, the mighty bird concerned did not succeed in carrying him very far, but to be able to carry him at all is beyond the capacity of any known bird. It might be added that frontiersman Daniel Boone (1734-1819) said he had once seen a child carried off by a Big Bird. A child or, indeed, an adult such as White Bear, is too heavy for any known bird to carry off and would even be too much for prehistoric teratorns. It has been rumored that there are surviving pterosaurs in North America, but the Big Bird descriptions seem to lack reptilian features. Yet one has to ask, if huge birds exist in North America, how come they have so far avoided the vigilant binoculars of bird watchers?The whole question of Big Birds is, so to speak, up in the sky. Unless they occasionally stray out from hidden fastnesses, it is difficult to see how they can exist. There is also the problem of food. They must need a goodly amount of sustenance and one has to ask how they can keep so low a profile and yet obtain it. The mystery continues.

Well, I suppose it is. Norwegian artist Alexander Selvig Wengshoel had to have a hip bone removed surgically. He boiled the bone, removed the flesh and ate some of it with a glass of wine. I am reminded of Hannibal Lekter.

Probably the most famous whale ever to grace a novelist's page is Moby Dick, who appeared in Herman Melville's novel of 1851. Many consider him to be a white whale, but in fact in the story his skin is white with some gray intermingling. He has become so famous that his name is known by thousands who have never opened Melville's book. He is, however, quite fictitious - or is he?Melville says that sperm whales can attain a length of ninety feet and Moby Dick was the longest of any of them. However, no sperm whale of quite that length is to be found in the record book. The book is named after the whale as the pursuit of the whale is the theme of the story, even though the creature appears in only three chapters of the work. He is, however, the work's focus.However, almost as monstrous as the whale himself in a way is Captain Ahab, who pursues him in his ship the Pequod. Ahab does not appear when the ship sets sail, but lurks in his cabin, unseen but present, like some Lovecraftian monster sleeping at the bottom of the sea. When he finally appears he cuts an eerie figure, with a false leg made from the bone of a whale. He is obsessed with Moby Dick and the prime aim of his grim voyage is to slay the mighty cetacean. He makes a speech worthy of Demosthenes in which he enlists the support of the crew for his purpose. He is supported by some shadowy figures whom he has smuggled onto the ship. A Zoroastrian named Fedallah utters dire prophecies about the outcome of the voyage. He hangs about Ahab like a shadow.While Ahab has no real life prototype, there was a whale on which Melville based Moby Dick. This was an actual fully white whale called Mocha Dick, which lived in the South Pacific. Mocha Dick was generally of tractable bent, often swimming peacefully alongside vessels. Whalers who tried to kill him, however, soon found he could be both ferocious and crafty, generally able to hold his own against them. He was finally killed in 1838. A year later Jeremiah N. Reynolds chronicled his career.

I came across the following cryptid
report while wrapping up my latest installment of the Strange Monsters series
for Schiffer Books, due out early next year. The book covers reports of strange
creatures in West Virginia, and this one certainly fits the bill. I'm pleased
to offer a possible solution to the mystery, 132 years after the fact, and
leave it open for debate.

In 1882, first a dog, then a horse,
were found dead on the fringes of Gauley Marsh, in Pocahontas County. In each
case, the victims were unmarked beyond a pair of wounds resembling widely
spaced fang marks, thus ruling out attack by known carnivorous mammals. At the
same time, the space between punctures—three and one-quarter inches—eliminated
West Virginia's only venomous snakes, the timber rattler and the northern
copperhead, as potential culprits. Hunters brought a hound to track the killer,
and while the dog appeared to catch a scent, it refused to give chase.

Gauley Marsh Today

Frustrated on that front, locals
focused their suspicion next on newcomer James Brooden, who had settled in the
swamp. He had examined the dead horse's wounds and suggested it was bitten by
some deadly unknown snake. The horse's owner, Jonas Heeb, suspected Brooden of
involvement in that case—and when Heeb died in turn near the marsh, with
identical puncture wounds on his wrist or throat (reports differ), Brooden was
charged with his murder.

The "evidence" against
him was an arrowhead, one of many he possessed, that seemed to match Heeb's
wounds. Brooden claimed he used the arrowheads for hunting, shunning firearms,
and while no trace of any poison was discovered at his camp which might have
caused Heeb's death, the murder trial proceeded, climaxed by a field trip to
the site where Brooden and Heeb were last seen quarreling. There, near a wall
at one edge of the swamp, the judge, jurors and lawyers found a hired man
burning logs and trash, oblivious to their proceedings.

While the prosecution and defense
were bent on scoring points, a "low humming wail" distracted them,
coming from the far side of the wall. Suddenly, a beast appeared, described as
having "a club-like body four feet long. It possessed a large heart-shaped
head, broader than a hand. It was colored as to disguise its presence in
nature."

Brooden sprang into action,
grabbing the hired man's pitchfork to skewer the creature and fling it onto the
nearby fire, where it wriggled and died. Pulled from the flames when it was
clearly dead, the creature was examined cautiously. Those present peered into
its mouth and "teeth were found that matched the known wounds. Poison sacs
were seen there also containing a straw-colored venom."

Brooden's murder charge was
dismissed on the spot, and he wisely left the county. Folklorist G. D. McNeil,
writing in 1940, summarized local opinions of the creature.

Some explained that the Marsh was but a
remnant of a greater marsh which in another age had harbored many monsters now
extinct; and, it was argued, the peculiar snake-like thing was the lone
survivor of a dread species that had infested the big marsh thousands of years
ago. Others maintained that the creature was no more than a monstrous deformity
born from a mating of rattlesnakes.

We are hampered, in attempting to
identify the creature, by a dearth of physical description. Did the beast have
legs? Did it have scales? There is no reason to believe a "lone
survivor" of some ancient species, so aggressive in its final days, went
undiscovered from the county's settlement, in the 1750s, until 1882. A
"monstrous mutation" is always possible, but there may be another
explanation, as well.

Our brief description of the Gauley
Marsh creature—snake-like, with a "club-like" body, broad
"heart-shaped" (i.e., triangular) head with fangs and venom sacs,
camouflage coloration—matches in all respects a stout-bodied viper, though not
one of a domestic breed. Two species that immediately match the general
description are the puff adder (Bitis arietans) and Gabon viper (B.
gabonica), both native to Africa, with the puff adder's range including the
southern Arabian Peninsula.

Puff adders kill more humans each
year than any other venomous snake in Africa. The largest specimen on record
measured six feet three inches long, with a girth of sixteen inches,
"club-like" enough with the body extended. Its color pattern varies
geographically, with the ground-color ranging from straw yellow to reddish
brown, overlaid with a pattern of dark brown to black bands extending from the
neck to the tail.

A puff adder strikes

Gabon vipers, native to eighteen
countries in Central and West Africa, are the continent's heaviest venomous
snakes, holding a record confirmed weight of twenty-five pounds with an empty
stomach. That specimen, caught in 1973, measured five feet nine inches in length.
Girths of 14.65 inches are confirmed, and Gabon vipers pack the longest fangs
of any known venomous snake, measuring up to 2.2 inches. The standard color
pattern consists of pale sub-rectangular blotches running down the center of
the back, interspersed with dark, yellow-edged hourglass markings. Rhomboidal
shapes mark the flanks, ranging from tan to brown, the overall pattern
providing excellent forest floor camouflage.

A Gabon viper displays its forest camouflage

Neither viper can produce a
"low humming wail"—nor can any other snake, since they lack vocal
cords—but puff adders derive their name from the loud hissing sounds they emit
when disturbed. As to how either species might have made the trip from Africa
to West Virginia in the 19th century, we may only speculate. A long shot solution
perhaps, but still more logical than a lone prehistoric survivor inhabiting
Gauley Marsh for generations, unnoticed.

In October 2012, the Pocahontas
County Opera House presented a play based on the Brooden murder trial,
performed outdoors on the boardwalk of the Cranberry Glades Botanical Area.
Director Emily Newton fairly summarized the history of Gauley Marsh, telling
reporters, "We live in a pretty mystical place. You don't actually know
what is around every corner of every trail."

Monday, 26 May 2014

If you look into the folklore of Vermont, you'll see one of the largest creatures is Old Slipperyskin, called by the Indians Wejuk. He is usually described as a gigantic bear, but we will need to look further into this. This huge animal was a pest to human settlers. He would frighten people and animals, establish himself on a height and throw pinecones at passers-by, stampede cattle, drag trees through cornfields and throw stones at children.He seems to have been particularly active in Essex and Orleans counties. He was reported to have thrown pinecones at an expedition in 1759.The story is told that Governor Jonas Galusha (1753-1834) had a plan which he regarded as both novel and ingenious to catch Old Slipperyskin. He doused himself in a solution which stank of female bear and stationed a hunting party nearby. He entered the woods and in due course he exited them rather quickly, with Old Slipperyskin in pursuit. The hunters, who should have shot at the beast, instead fled, so the plan came to naught.On another occasion a hunting party is said to have searched for him on the road leading to Elon Mountain. Old Slipperyskin is said to have rolled a large tree downhill towards them and they perforce had to scatter.Writer Joseph Citro says there might be descendants of Old Slipperyskin still around.There are some features about Old Slipperyskin which may make us doubt that he was a bear. First of all, he threw things, a task for which a bear's paws seem to me unsuited. Secondly, he always stood on his hind legs, which is not something a bear will do for more than a short time. He doesn't seem to have preyed on cattle, however much he annoyed them. Although the tales told about him may sometimes be mere yarns, he does definitely seem to have existed, though the endeavors of more than one animal may have been laid at his door. If he was a bear, he seems to have been a singular one. The question that must be asked is whether he was something else and, if so, what.In Vermont they drink Old Slipperyskin Pale Ale, which may be purchased at Jasper Murdoch's Alehouse (The Norwich Inn).

This is a question many ask. It is clear animals can communicate with each other, even if this only amounts to a hostile growl, but do they talk in the sense of conversing as is the case, say, in the Dr Dolittle books?Konrad Lorenz, Nobel Prize winner and animal psychologist, points out we may mistake some animal communications for speech. For example, a bird may utter an alarm call if it sees a predator. While this alerts other birds in the vicinity to danger, it is not true language because the bird will still utter the call even if there are no other birds nearby who might hear it. The call is merely an evolutionary development.However, some animals can be taught a certain amount of human speech. Your dog will have acquired a vocabulary of human words and will understand what you mean by them: he will not just infer your meaning from the tone of your voice. However, no dog that I know of has ever actually managed to reply.Parrots can imitate human words. Sometimes, they can actually understand the meanings of these words. Famous in this respect was an African gray parrot called Alex who was said to be able to say 100 words and apparently to understand them. He even coined a new word bannery for an apple, by apparently combining the words banana and cherry. Unfortunately, he died at the age of 30, young for a gray parrot, and may not have realized his full potential. Another gray parrot, Nkisi, was said to understand 950 words and to know how to change tense. When he met Jane Goodall he asked her, "Got a chimp?"Studies by A. Turkaio have indicated a similarity between elephant calls and human speech. Batyr, an elephant in a Kazakhstan zoo, was said to be able to utter a number of human words with comprehension.Amongst primates, Koko, a gorilla, was able to learn 1000 signs in American Sign Language. She also kept kittens as pets. Michael, another gorilla, mastered a vocabulary of 600 sounds. Kanzi, a bonobo, was able to learn to communicate by means of a lexigram. His vocabulary was 200 words.Research of this nature continues. Where it will end, we cannot say at this juncture. Perhaps eventually some animal will end up able to communicate animal perspectives fluently with us. Watch this space.

1955: Motorist Robert Hunnicutt sees three short bipedal
creatures, each about 40 inches tall, with wide mouths and "lopsided
chests" standing beside a road in Branch Hill, Ohio. One of the creatures
brandishes a "sparkling" rod overhead, emitting an alfalfa-almond
odor.

Saturday, 24 May 2014

When the Australians decided to have a federal capital, they decided to build Canberra. However, there was some debate over what the name of the new capital might be. Zoological interests were represented by those who wanted to call the new city Kangaremu, but this was not to be and in 1913 the city received the official name of Canberra.The city contains Lake Burley Griffin, named after the city's architect. The lake is artificial, created in 1963. This was done by the damming of the River Molongo. Despite this body of water's artificiality and comparatively recent construction, it has been suggested that it contains an unknown animal. Strange turbulence was observed in the lake in the year 2000. Could some creature that had been in the Molongo have been trapped in the lake? In 1886 a strange animal the size of a dog had been reported in the Molongo. Could a creature of this species be found in Lake Burley Griffin?

A creature called the bicho is the subject of belief in Brazil. It is said to be dark grey and reptilian, walking on two legs. Brad Steiger has suggested it is identical with the chupacabra. In Latin America the term bicho, from Latin bestia, is used with many different meanings, some of them obscene.

Probably one of the most famous of North American lake monsters is that of Lake Champlain, nicknamed "Champ". There is a mistaken belief that Champlain himself saw this monster, but in fact he saw another mystery creature, referred to as the chaousarou. Indian tradition knew of a monster in the lake called the tatoskok. The first white man to claim a sighting was Captain Crum and this trusty salt averredd he saw an animal 187 feet long in Bulawagga Bay in 1819. The monster is supposed to have started coming ashore in 1873 and it started feasting on livestock. Hunters tracked it to a cave, but were too frightened by it to do anything about it when they arrived there. Gunfire from a ship later wounded the beast. In 1883 Nathan H. Mooney, a sheriff, reported seeing a monster 26'-30' in length.In 1887 a group of picnickers, relaxing on the beach, saw Champ heading in their direction. The monster did not come ashore this time. In 1915 it stranded itself in Bulawagga Bay, but managed to regain the water. There were sightings in 1939 and 1945. However, the monster really hit the headlines when Sandra Mansi's photograph was published. This apparently showed a head and neck and behind it a hump. B. Radford suggested it was a log with tree stump. It has been said that the neck and back are not actually joined to one another, the neck being further away. In all, though at first glance the photograph looks convincing, it cannot be said to prove the monster's existence. However, publication of the photograph led to a flood of sightings.In Port Henry (NY), they hold a Champ Day each year. The town has a sign listing 132 alleged sightings. In 2003 sounds of what resembled whale communications were heard by echolocation in the lake.As to what the monster could be, although a plesiosaur has been put forward as a candidate, it seems unlikely that this saurian could actually raise its head out of the water, because of the stiffness of its neck. A eunuch eel, of the type Richard Freeman suggests is in Loch Ness, is more plausible. A completely unknown animal cannot be ruled out. That there is or at least was something menacing there would seem to be almost established because of the multiple witnesses of the early encounters.Strangely enough, in 1775 there was a boat called Lake Monster plying the lake.

1958: Happy birthday to Dr. Don Jeffrey Meldrum, Full
Professor of Anatomy and Anthropology and a Professor of the Department of
Anthropology at Idaho State University, also a renowned Bigfoot researcher.

Friday, 23 May 2014

Studies indicate that there may be three separate subspecies of Humpback Whale, a thing that had not hitherto been considered. Those in the North Atlantic, North Pacific and Southern Hemisphere keep apart from each other and as a result may constitute separate subspecies, scientists inform us.

What is the origin of the legend of the Cyclops, the great one-eyed giant of Greek mythology. We cannot say with certainty. Initially, there were only three of them. However, the story most people remember is the encounter Ulysses/Odysseus had with one of them, an inhospitable chap called Polyphemus. This was supposed to have taken place on an island called Trinacria, which the ancients identified with Sicily. The idea that Sicily once harbored gigantic humanoids may have come from the finding of elephant skulls with what was taken to be a single eye socket in the front, which resembled gigantic human skulls. Actually, the "socket" was in fact where the trunk connected to the skull. The eye sockets were around the side.It is actually possible for a human to be born with cyclopeanism, one eye in the center rather than two in the usual places. Often this condition means that you have no nose.

Ctesias (5th Century BC) was an Ancient Greek. I don't mean he himself was ancient, but he came from Greece in ancient times. However, he traveled eastwards to Persia (Iran) and wrote about India and other topics.He describes a creature he calls the martihora, but this word was later corrupted to manticore,its common name today. He said it had the face of a man, the body of a lion and a sting on the end of its tail. It could shoot out spines and these spines were deadly, unless you happened to be an elephant. Commentators generally think Ctesias was describing a tiger, because there was a belief that this beast could shoot its whiskers at adversaries. However, I assume he was working only from descriptions and not very good ones if that was the case.

The Matah Kagmi are creatures of the Bigfoot kind. However, they may not be quite the same as your average Bigfoot. They are said to live in the region of Mount Shasta (California). This mountain itself is the focus of a number of strange beliefs. This story tells of Matah Kagmi-human interaction.now read on.....

Further footprints in the state of Johor, Malaysia, testify to the possible presence of the Orang Dalam, a well-known cryptid of that area. The Orang Dalam is a creature of the Bigfoot kind, said to reach a height of 20 feet.

Fifty years ago the Solway Spaceman photograph was taken. Although unseen by the photographer at the time, this spaceman came out on the print. The publication of the photograph was followed by a visit from Men-in-Black-type persons.now read on....